and theTime Machine

and theTime Machine

and theTime Machine

MysteryMobMysteryMob

Roger Hurn

Rising-Stars

Mystery Moband the

Time Machine

Roger Hurn

Illustrated by

Stik

Rising Stars UK Ltd.22 Grafton Street, London W1S 4EXwww.risingstars-uk.com

The right of Roger Hurn to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.

Published 2007

Text, design and layout © Rising Stars UK Ltd.

Cover design: Button plcIllustrator: Stik, Bill Greenhead for Illustration Text design and typesetting: Andy WilsonPublisher: Gill BudgellPublishing manager: Sasha MortonEditor: Catherine BakerSeries consultant: Cliff Moon

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means,electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of Rising Stars UK Ltd.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-84680-220-1

Printed in the UK by CPI Bookmarque, Croydon, CR0 4TD

Contents

Meet the Mystery Mob 4

Chapter 1: About Time 7

Chapter 2: Past Time 11

Chapter 3: Time Out 17

Chapter 4: A Hot Time 23

Chapter 5: Home Time 31

Extras!About the author 39The time travel quiz 40When I was a kid 42Adi’s favourite time travel joke 43How to be a time traveller 44Five fantastic facts about time 46Time lingo 47

4

FYI: Gummy hasn’t got

much brain – and even

fewer teeth.

Loves: Soup.

Hates: Toffee chews.

Fact: The brightest thing

about him is his shirt.

Name:

Gummy

FYI: If Lee was any coolerhe’d be a cucumber.

Loves: Hip-hop.

Hates: Hopscotch.

Fact: He has his owndesigner label (which he peeled off a tin).

Name:

Lee

Meet the Mystery Mob

5

FYI: Dwayne is smarter

than a tree full of owls.

Loves: Anything

complicated.

Hates: Join-the-dots books.

Fact: If he was any brighter

you could use him as

a floodlight at football

matches.

Name:

Dwayne

FYI: Rob lives in his ownworld – he’s just visitingplanet Earth.

Loves: Daydreaming.

Hates: Nightmares.

Fact: Rob always does hishomework – he just forgetsto write it down.

Name:

Rob

6

FYI: Chet is as brave as a lion with steel jaws.

Loves: Havingadventures.

Hates: Knitting.

Fact: He’s as tough as the chicken his grannycooks for his tea.

Name:

Chet

FYI: Adi is as happy

as a football fan with

tickets to the big match.

Loves: Telling jokes.

Hates: Moaning minnies.

Fact: He knows more

jokes than a jumbo joke

book.

Name:

Adi

It’s Saturday and the Mystery Mob are visiting Dwayne’s uncle. He’s an inventor, and he’s showing themhis latest invention – a time machine!

7

About Time

Adi Billy Tibbs the school bully knows all about time travel.

Mystery MobDoes he?

Adi Yes, he says if I don’t stop telling silly jokes he’ll knock meinto the middle of next week!

Chet I don’t want to go into the future.I want to travel back in time. I want to see the dinosaurs.

Rob I want to go back to lunchtime.

8

Lee Why’s that?

Rob Because I’m still hungry.

Dwayne Shut up, you lot – I want to try out the time machine.

Lee Yeah! Me too! It’s awesome.

Mystery MobTotally!

Dwayne’s uncleI’m sorry, guys – there’s no way I can let you use this machine.

Dwayne Oh! Why not?

9

Dwayne’s uncleIt’s way too risky for kids. Only grown-up scientists like mecan be time travellers.

Dwayne But …

Dwayne’s uncleBut never mind, guys – take a look at these jet-poweredfootball boots I’ve just made!

Lee They are soooo cool.

Chet Let’s try them out.

Rob We can have a game in the back garden.

Adi Come on – let’s get going!

10

11

Chet, Adi, Rob and Lee go off with Dwayne’s uncle. Dwayne and Gummy stay by the time machine.

Past Time

12

Dwayne I’m not playing football. I’m going in the time machine.

Gummy You can’t. Your uncle said no.

Dwayne He didn’t. He said we mustn’t use it. But all I want to do is sit in it.

Gummy Well, I guess that’s OK.

Dwayne Of course it is. Are you coming?

Gummy You bet I am.

The two boys climb inside the time machine.

Gummy Look at all these buttons and lights. This is great!

Dwayne It is, but don’t touch anything.

Gummy I won’t. Hey, what do you thinkthis big red button is for?

Dwayne I don’t know.

Gummy There’s only one way to find out.

13

Gummy puts his finger on the big red button.

Dwayne (shouting) Don’t press that button!

Dwayne is too late. Gummy is alreadypressing the button.

14

15

Gummy Oops! Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.

Dwayne You twit! Look what you’ve done.The hands on the clock are going backwards.

Gummy Are we going back in time?

Dwayne Yes, but where will we end up?

Gummy Oh, that’s easy. We’ll end up in the past.

Dwayne Gummy, does your one brain cellever get lonely?

Gummy No. It’s got me to talk to.

Dwayne Hey, the hands on the clockhave stopped. I think we’ve arrived.

Gummy So let’s go and see where we are.

16

17

Dwayne and Gummy step out of the time machine. They are on a hill,and they can see a big cave nearby.

A man dressed in clothes made of animal skins is watching them. He’s got a stone axe in his hand.

Time Out

18

Gummy We’ve landed back in the Stone Age. Let’s hope that caveman is friendly.

Dwayne I don’t think he’s pleased to see us.

Gummy Why not?

Dwayne Well, for a start he’s jumping up and down and shouting.

Gummy And he’s waving his axe at us.

Dwayne That’s never a good sign.

19

Gummy Why don’t we go and talk to himand try and calm him down?

Dwayne We don’t speak Stone Age lingo.And I don’t want him to hit me on the head with his axe.

Gummy Good point.

20

The caveman isn’t cross. He’s seen something the boys haven’t seen. A huge sabre-toothed tigeris creeping up behind them.

It stops. Then it opens its jaws and growls.

Dwayne Did you hear that growl?

Gummy Yes, I did. Hey, do you think the caveman is trying to warn usthat a wild animal is close by?

Dwayne Oh yes. And it’s a sabre-toothed tiger.

Gummy How do you know? You don’t speak his lingo.

Dwayne I know because I’m looking at it.

Gummy (gulping) Yikes! What are we going to do?

Dwayne Run for our lives!

21

22

The boys dash up to the caveman, and he runs into the cave. Dwayne and Gummy race after him.

The tiger prowls outside. It won’t go away.

It has them trapped.

23

Dwayne How are we going to get rid of that tiger?

Gummy I don’t know. Maybe the cavemanwill fight it with his stone axe.

Dwayne No he won’t. Look at him! He’s as scared as we are.

The caveman is sitting in a corner of the cave. He is shaking like a leaf.

A Hot Time

Gummy So that’s it. I’m going to end up as cat food.

Dwayne It’s not all bad. At least you’ll give the tiger belly ache.

Gummy Very funny – I don’t think.

Dwayne No, but I do – and I think I’ve got an idea of how to save us.

Gummy What is it?

24

25

Dwayne Big cats are afraid of fire. So if we set fire to a stick, we can use it to scare off the tiger.

Gummy But cavemen don’t have matches.

Dwayne No problem. I can start a fire by rubbing two sticks together.

Gummy How does that work?

Dwayne Well, first I need some tinder.

Gummy What’s tinder?

Dwayne Stuff that will burn. Dry grass will do the trick. Let’s see if we can find some in the cave.

26

27

The caveman’s bed is a pile of dried grass. The boys take some. Then Dwayne picks up a thin stick and a thicker stick from the floor of the cave.

Dwayne These sticks will do nicely.

Gummy OK, so we’ve got dry grass and two sticks. Now what?

28

Dwayne I put the thin stick on top of the thick stick. Now I spin the thin stick between the palmsof my hands – like so.

Gummy Cool.

Dwayne No – hot, actually. The wood is starting to smoke.Quick, let’s put the hot wood on to the dry grass.

Gummy Magic! The grass is on fire!

Dwayne You bet! Now let’s put some stickson it and make a bonfire.

29

The boys soon have a fire blazing.

The caveman is amazed. He has never seen fire before. He thinks the boys are wizards.

30

31

Home Time

Gummy Let’s grab a bunch of burning sticks and go and scare that old tiger away.

Dwayne Okay, but we’d better take care. We don’t want to get burnt.

Gummy Or eaten.

32

The boys jump out of the cave, and wave the burning sticks at the tiger.

The flames scare the tiger. A spark from one of the sticks lands on its tail.

33

Dwayne Uh-oh. We’ve set the tiger’s tailon fire.

Gummy That’s done it. We’ve made itmad. It’ll eat us now for sure.

But the tiger gives a yelp and runs off. It dives into a nearby river and swims away.

Dwayne Wow – that was a close call.

Gummy I really hope we didn’t hurt the tiger.

Dwayne We didn’t. We just made things a bit hot for it, that’s all.

34

Gummy Hey, look. The caveman is using our sticks to make his own fire. He’s a copycat.

Dwayne Hmmm. I think we must be the first people in history to make fire.

35

Gummy So will we be famous?

Dwayne Let’s hope not – we’re not even supposed to be here. Hmmm … do you know what time it is?

Gummy Stone Age time?

Dwayne No, it’s time to go home. And we need to get there before my uncle misses his time machine.

36

The two boys wave goodbye to the caveman and jump back into the time machine.

Gummy presses a big blue button. The hands on the clock spin forward.

37

The boys get back home in the nick of time. In fact, it’s just one second after they left.

Dwayne This is great!

Gummy How come?

Dwayne It means we get to play footballwith the jet-powered boots after all!

Gummy Hey, I love this time travel stuff.But now it’s time to go! Race you out there!

38

Roger Hurn has:

been an actor in ’The Exploding Trouser Company’

played bass guitar in a rock band

been given the title Malam Oga (wise teacher, big boss!) while on a storytelling trip to Africa.

Now he’s a writer, and he hopes you likereading about the Mystery Mob as much as he likes writing about them.

39

About the author

40

The time travel quiz

Questions

1 Which TV doctor can travel in time?

2 Can you name a famous time machine?

3 Why didn’t cavemen fight dinosaurs?

4 How did people tell the time

before watches were invented?

5 Why couldn’t you go to the dentist

if you travelled back to King Henry

the Eighth’s time?

6 Why should you take an umbrella

if you travelled back in time

to a medieval town?

7 Why is it a good idea to take a packed

lunch if you travel back in time to the

Stone Age?

8 Why would you need to wear a clothes

peg on your nose if you travelled back

in time to Queen Victoria’s London in

the year 1858?

41

How did you score?

0 If you got all eight answers correct, then you are really going places!

0 If you got six answers correct, then you’re ready to be Doctor Who’s next assistant.

0 If you got fewer than four answers correct, then the only time you’ll be seeing a time lord is at teatime on the telly!

1Doctor Who. 2The Tardis.3The answer is not because they’d lose, it’s because dinosaurs were extinct long before people came along. 4They used sundials – though nobody wore them on their wrists! 5Because there weren’t any. Barbers pulled out your teeth – which was bad if you only wanted a haircut. 6Because people didn’t have indoor loos. Instead, they used potties at night – and they emptied their potties out of the bedroom window into the street below! 7Because, until cave people discovered how to cook with fire, they ate raw meat and fish. 8Because all the drains and cesspits overflowed into the River Thames. People called it ’The Great Stink’.

Answers

ud

z42

When I was a kid

tQuestion Did you ever travel back in time

when you were a kid?

Roger Yes. I went back to the Dark Ages.

Question What did you see there?

Roger Nothing – it was too dark.

Question Why is that time in history called the Dark Ages?

Roger Because there were so many knights.

Question OK, so you didn’t really travel back in time – but were you any good at history when you were at school?

Roger No, I was hopeless.

Question Why was that?

Roger Because the teacher kept asking me questions about things that happened before I was born!

43

Adi’s favourite time travel joke

When a knight in armour was killed

in battle, what did theyput on his gravestone?

Rust in peace!

Watch lots of old Doctor Who DVDs.

Get a beautiful and clever person to be your assistant. If you can’t find one, don’t worry – the family dog will do. At least it won’t think you’re barking mad.

Decide which time you want to travel to. Any time before 1870 is good – kids didn’t have to go to school in those days.

Make a time machine using your mum’s digital alarm clock, the engine from your dad’s lawn mower, and your sister’s computer.

Find out how one hour can last as long as a week, when they ground you for using their stuff!

44

How to be a time traveller

45

1 Long ago, people used to tell the time by looking at the Sun as it crossed the sky.This didn’t work if it was a rainy day.

2 The oldest type of clock is a sundial clock. They were invented about 5500 years ago.

3 The Ancient Egyptians invented water clocks. Water clocks were better than sundials. They could tell the time at night as well as during the day. The person who thought up that idea was no drip!

4 Time is different at different places. When it’s early morning in Japan, it’s late afternoon in New York.

5 One of the first alarm clocks worked by yanking a string that you tied to your little toe. Let’s hope it didn’t pull you right out of bed!

Five fantastic facts

about time

It’ll only take a second What your mum says when she wants you to do a really boring job – like tidying up your bedroom.

I’ll do it in a minute What you say when told to do a really boring job – like tidying up your bedroom.

Once in a blue moon Something that only happens very rarely – like you actuallytidying up your bedroom.

46

Time lingo

There’s plenty of time What your dad says when he’s driving to the airport and your mum says you’re going to miss the plane.

It’s never too lateBut it usually is – especially when you’re trying to catch a plane.

Tempus fugit This is a Latin phrase meaning ‘Time flies’. Hmmm … wonder which airline it uses?

47

Mystery Mob

Rising-StarsMystery Mob books are available from most booksellers.

For mail order information please call Rising Stars on 0871 47 23 010

or visit www.risingstars-uk.com

ISBN 978-1-84680-220-1

9 781846 802201www.risingstars-uk.com

This must be the coolestinvention ever: a time machine!Dwayne and Gummy can’t wait

to try it out …with mind-blowing results!

Cover Design: Burville-Riley PartnershipCover Illustration: